Abandoned Memories
by Xelabus
Summary: hold on. will make summary tomorrow. not enough time.
1. prelude

{*Abandoned Memories*}

Prelude ,

{*Fractions of The Past*}

...

A tall, bulky teenager wearing a black hooded robe down to his

feet walks into a dungeon filled with helpless people trapped behind

bars. He walks past a helpless old woman, who mocks his presence.

"You filthy scum! All 13 of you are gonna pay!"

"Watch your tongue, rat!"

" Some day you'll face judgement! I'll see to it!"

"Hah! Foolish rat! This is the organization you're talking to.

We are judgement."

"You're filth!"

The child becomes angry, "YOU, ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS

DUNGEON, ARE HERE FOR A REASON! YOU'RE CRIMES HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO

THIS PLACE, NOT US!"

"WHAT CRIMES? WE ARE FAR MORE INNOCENT THAN ANY OF YOU SCUM!"

Another man, older and wiser, also with a black hooded robe,

walks into the dungeon, maintaining a slight distance away from the

outraged teen."Crixus, For what reason are you yelling at these rats?

Do they need punishment?

He replies with shear anger, and walks past the hooded man.

"Yes boss! Everyone of them. Take their hearts(souls)

immediately!"

The man looked at him with suspicion, "You know we can't do

that. Their souls are still too strong."

The boy turns around,"Says who? Just set up the death sentence

now! I'm sick of seeing their pathetic, dying faces."

"Crixus! Look at me now!"

The child, although hesitance resides within him, chooses not to

disobey."Boss, I...I know what you're thinking. I swear I didn't..."

"Anger. It's an emotion. Don't tell me he's influenced you too."

"Boss, I swear I never said anything to him."

"Fear. Another emotion. Already, you've been infected. Beyond

influence. You are just as much of filth as those in the cell."

"But boss, please, give me another chance. It'll wear off I

promise."

The old lady shouts at them from the cold bars in which she

is locked behind, and wakes up several other prisoners. "HAH! IT'S

THAT KID, ISNT IT? HE'S INFLUENCED EVERYONE OF YOU. EACH ONE OF YOU

SICK BASTARDS HAVE FEELINGS AND DONT EVEN KNOW IT!"

The older member of the organization experiences anger bottlling

up within him, but contains it with excellence. Instead of hollering

at the menacing old lady, he quietly announces to Crixus, "We will set

up the death sentence as soon as possible. This lady, she is right.

She knows way too much. That's why we must remove her and every one of

her followers from life."

Crixus looks at him with puzzled amazement, "But boss, you just

said earlier that..."

The man grits his teeth and whispers in the kids ear, "Listen,

if any other member of the Organization finds out that we have any

form of emotion, you do realize what our penalty is, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, but boss,...

"Good, now go see Xalaband. Tell him that the prisoners on

sector 361 have given up their hearts(souls) and are ready to be put

to death."

"Yes boss" Crixus walks out of the dungeon and onto a large

flight of stairs heading up towards a huge, metal platform. In the

middle of the platform was a cylindrical stand, with a shining blue

aura on top of it. All around the platform was a countless series of

large, metal platforms heading towards other dungeons filled with even

more helpless people being held prisoner. Crixus walks up to the stand

and waves his hand over the blue aura. It then triggers the platform

to float upwards at a slant heading in the direction he was facing.

After a while it stops, and attaches to another platform 4 times it's

size. As Crixus walks onto the other platform, he sees a wall around

it, with 3 metal doors, one door in the middle, and one on each side.

He walks up to the door in the middle and opens it. He sees two men in

black hoods talking to each other, in an empty room containing only

designs along the floor and a plain desk with an antique chair next to

it.

Crixus gulps, and interrupts their conversation."Xalaband, sir,

I have a message from Albaxis."

One of the men leaves while the other walks up to Crixus and

asks, "If Albaxis wanted to tell me something, why would he send such

a low ranking member such as yourself to inform me rather than just

coming here himself?"

Crixus felt pain that he hadn't ever felt before. He could feel

humiliation, but regardless of the matter he answered Xalabands

question carefully. "I don't know, but he sent me either way, now

please sir, let me tell you what he has to say."

"Very well then."

"Albaxis says that the prisoners in sector 361 are ready to

chose to rid themselves of their hearts(souls) because they

can't bear to live with the crimes they've commited.

"Cant bear to live? Hmmmm, sounds foolish. Very well then. We

will grant them their wish. The sentence will begin at dusk tomorrow.

You must inform Albaxis of my approval."

"Yes, sir", Crixus obeys and begins to walk towards the

elevation platform.

"Crixus!"

He turns around, "Yes sir?."

"After you find Albaxis, I want you to look for Xelabus. Tell him he

is not welcome to participate in the sentence. He has already begun to

lose my trust. There is no telling what he might do next."

"Understood." He begins to leave the room. As Crixus walks

towards the floating elevator, he hears the door slam shut behind him.

"Hmmm, Xalaband must be real busy," he wonders. As he takes the

elavation platform and reaches the 361st sector, he hears another

conversation going on around the corner, and the voices sound all too

familiar. He hides behind the corner of the dungeon and eavesdrops on

the conversation.

" What could we possibly accomplish? There are way too many

prisoners. We couldn't save them all.

"I know it seems hard but we can do this. Organization Xlll is

already falling apart as we speak, and If we can't save them all then

we need to save enough people to show that we mean business. Holding a

jail that kills people just for the sake of obtaining power. It's

wrong, and I'm glad you finally realize that just as i do Celest.

Just because this organization has no emotion does not mean we should

be at loss with our morality.

"Youre right, Xelabus. No, you're always right. It just

surprises me that you didn't end up being the leader of this

Organization, you know? You would have made a great leader."

"Celest, know matter how hard I try, Xavier will always have

that lurking power over me. After all, he is my older brother. It's

just sad that things have to come to this. I wonder what he'd be like

if he actually had emotions."

"Xelabus, he'd be just like you, I know it. It's because he has

no emotion that he leads us. It's funny, because I can see a little

bit of emotion in every member except for him. I guess that's what

makes him so powerful. So, uhh, are we gonna save these people or what?"

"We have to think of a plan first."

Crixus becomes slightly edgy and begins to feel a wave of

emotions slowly circulating throughout his body. He thinks to himself,

"No! I'm becoming a softy. I've been around them too long! I must

hurry!" He then walks up to Xelabus, pretending he didn't hear the

conversation. "Xelabus, I have strict orders to inform you of the

death sentence that will be held at dusk tomorrow."

Both Xelabus and Celests eyes widen with horrid surprisement.

Xelabus releases his own tension and calmly answers, "Why so

early? Normally they tell us of these kind of sentences a week before

it actually happens."

Celest puts her hand on her chin and looks intently at Xelabus,

as if signaling a change of plans. She announces while looking

straight into his eyes, "Strange."

"Oh, and Xelabus, I was told that you were not allowed to go to

the death sentence, otherwise the punishments would be severe."

Xelabus and Celest exchange glances again. They each know

exactly why he is unable to go. He answers to Crixus, "Then it Is

already decided. I won't go", he lies.

"Okay then, I will let both Xalaband, and Xavier know that you

have accepted their disapproval of your participation." Crixus begins

to leave.

Xelabus, on the otherhand, isn't finished with the

conversation."Hey, Crixus. Come here a second."

He listens, and walks towards the two. "What is it?"

"You need to cheer up. You're just a kid ya know?"

Crixus retaliates, "You and your girlfriend need to mellow down

a bit. The Organization does not welcome those with emotion."

Celest invades the conversation, "Not made for those with

emotion? Crixus look at yourself. It's because of this organization

that you're like this. You're hurting yourself Crixus, and most of

all, you're not a monster. Not like them."She pauses for a second, "If

you'll just let us..."

"ENOUGH! I've heard enough from you two! Your feelings are

indescribably sickening. You are both scum of this world, the scum

that this organization means to free this world from. You're lucky you

are still a part of this Organization."

Xelabus retaliates, "Youre lost Crixus. We can help you. Don't

you realize that Organization XIII was a big mistake right from the

beginning?"

"Xelabus, the Organization is fine. It is you that is the

mistake."

"Cmon Crixus! You are a good person. Don't you see that what you

are working for is working against you? They don't care about you, not

like we do."

"I have nothing left to say to you Xelabus, only that it is

imperative that I announce to everyone in the Organization that both

of you have disgraced their name. The two of you are scum, and shall

be punished severely, and imminently." He begins to walk away.

Celest cant bear his ignorance any longer. "CRIXUS! Don't you

realize what YOU are doing? These are innocent people. They aren't

scum. They are innocent people with hopes, and dreams. They have

families to live for, and all this Organization cares about is power?

Your turning yourself into a monster just like them. I know there is

good somewhere inside you."

Xelabus interrupts her, "Crixus, if there's anything you need to

know it's this. An Elder once told me, True evil, true ignorance lies

within those who care not for others, but for themself."


	2. Chapter 2

Ch'.1

{*A Sunset to Remember*}

/ The sun whimpers, on a beautiful warm afternoon in the outskirts

of a large city known as Farvalle, while two, young souls, race in the

high, grassy fields up to the big swaying willow tree ahead of them.

It is overcome by a steep cliff, that allows the view of a large busy

city to be seen from miles away.

The breeze is so soft, so gentle, that it expresses the nature of

the dying sun before dusk. Beautiful, is the sunset as all the colors

of red, orange, purple, and blue, mix to create an array of feeling, a

sense of hope.

With large bursts of laughter, Alex, a 15 year old phylosophical

mastermind, with the charms of a rock star, shouts to his best friend

Cierra "You know you can't beat me!" His bright blue eyes gleaming,

showing a pinch of cockyness, as he allows her to keep up with him up

until they get close enough to the tree.

"Hey...no fair, you're...too fast..", Cierra somehow manages

to get the words out of her mouth as she pants heavier and heavier

with every passing touch of her feet to the ground.

As they get closer to the Great Willow Tree, the grass grows

higher and darker, while the light from the sun slowly diminishes.

Cierra, is a beautiful 15 year old girl, with gleaming green

eyes, that sparkle in the sun, and long straight blonde hair down to

her elbows. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, but she is

unique and artistic on the inside. Because of this she lacks in

confidence, but exceeds in intelligence, and chooses not to show it in

spite of giving off a solid appearance.

Alex decides that this time, he'd let her get real close to the

tree before he picks up speed and crushes her hopes of winning once

and for all. Afterall, he couldn't possibly allow himself to lose

after having a winning streak of 13 to nothing.

"Hey... Alex, you're looking...beat", Cierra says right before

she jolts at top speed, and faster than Alex thought possible.

He obliviously replies, "Beat? Hahahah, no way!," still

running at a decent pace up until he realizes that she is several feet

ahead of him. As he runs the grass ahead of him seems to grow higher

and higher until he is unable to see her. "Hey, no fair!" he shouts

sprinting through the high grass. Now, with her out of sight, Alex is

afraid he is going to lose the race.

He keeps running and running, running and running,...

"what? This isn't right." He comes into realization that he should at

least be at the willow tree now. Still, running through the high

grass, Alex finds himself in a state of panic and confusion. His

vision becomes blurry, and his heart beats faster than ever before.

"where's the tree!",he yells as the grass becomes so high and thick

that it towers above his head. He screams in utter fear and confusion.

"Cierra!" Due to fatique, he faints, and falls to the ground,

losing consciousness…

Only to find himself verging on the brink of lucidity, he peers

into what he believes to be a dream filled with nothing but evil and

darkness.

"huh? Wait, I don't get it, where am I?" His mouth drops, and

he notices that the atmosphere around him resembles something more

than just a simple dream. It is so much like reality that his voice

had turned to echo as he spoke. As he examined the pitch black

darkness around him, a feeling as if something was there, almost as if

it had begun to reveal itself as a conscious presence, had begun to

haunt him. "What an odd dream. Seems real." He talks to himself,

trying to overcome this odd, unsettling feeling of being watched. He

toys around with the lucidity of the dream, and shouts as loud as he

can,

"Where am I!" He was not expecting a reply.

"You do not remember?", a powerful, and low voice emanates from

the space around him. The voice is calming and soothes Alex's restless

body.

He replies, barely conscious during the unexpected

phenomonenon,"wha, what's...going on. WHERE...Am, I."

"WHERE ARE YOU? HOW can you not remember this very place? You

are in Twilight Town my friend, a rundown city with great potential,

and secrets misunderstood by most. Xelabus, Only those that know the

truth can make sense of these secrets. You, are the only one. Wait,

why am I even telling you this? Hahahahah, you know more about this

town than anyone!", the voice rages on unable to understand why so

called Xelabus, is unable to remember who he was, or still is.

Alex replies, "Huh? Who are you? What's going on? You mean to tell me that

I've been here before?"

"He's messing with our minds I know it", another voice, not

quite as strong, emanates from the backround.

The greater voice yet again rages in frustration, "How do you

not remember this place? The room you are standing in right now?"

Alex blinks, now realizing that they are not a threat and that

they are just as confused as he is. He replies, "I can't see anything, just darkness."

The softer, younger voice that seems to be that of a young male

angrily yells back, "You liar! You're trying to trick us, I know it!

You have to be! You have to be... ", his voice slowly softening and

holding back with pain in his heart, "Whats his problem? Why is he

acting like this?"

A third voice, a female voice this time, is heard coming from

his right. "Xel, it's me. Don't you remember me?

Her voice is so young and beautiful, it can only be recognized

as the one he lost in the high grass. "Cierra?" He guesses.

She sighs, and is heard walking away. She walks up to where the

greater voice stands, and whispers in the old mans ear.

The raspy, powerful, elderly voice roars in anger, but it is

evident that fear resides within his offended words. "WHAT? How can

you come to such an abrubt assumption? Xelabus remains with us.

There is no way his spirit could have passed! His heart is too strong!"

His voice appears to come closer, "Xelabus, it's me, Albaxis,

previously, the 3rd order of the organization, a traitor of

organization Xlll, just as you are."

"I'm really sorry, but I think you have the wrong person. I

seriously have no clue what you're talking about. Am I supposed to be

important or something?"

"Yes, Xelabus, you are more than just important. You are the

very heart of this world. You ARE the balance." He turns around and

faces the other two. "Listen, Xelabus is fine. Only his memories are

lost. We just need to bring him back to us."

"But Albaxis, what about that deal? Xelabus made some kind of

deal with The Elders a year ago, right before the success of the

rebellion against the Organization, and all of a sudden he just

dissapeared. I can't help but miss him." The girl thinks for a minute,

and asks the old man,"what do you think happened to him?"

The old man finally comes to an obvious assumption, " I guess

now it's time we face facts.

"Face facts?", the girl questions his vague answer.

"Yes, face facts.", the old man pauses for a minute." I can't

believe it took me this long to figure it out.

The girl begins to lose patience, and speaks anxiously,

"Albaxis, what do you mean, face facts? I mean, he's

still here with us isn't he? He came back, and your saying part of

him isn't here? You're not making any sense.

"Listen, Celest, I know how it must feel, to lose a friend,

someone you truly care about. It may seem unbearable at first but you

can't go on believing there is nothing you can do. Now before you go

on calling me crazy, you need to know this. Whatever we see in him is

probably the towns memories playing tricks on us. I dont think he is,

actually here anymore. That deal with The Elders meant the end of his

life here with us, whether we want to believe it or not. The Elders

always have divine reasons for what they do, and Xelabus; his bravery,

his separation from us brought hope to this world, but what he didn't

realize was that now, we would need him more than ever before."

The

great voice directs himself towards Alex again."Xelabus, we need you.

This world needs you. We will come for you, just keep on waiting. It

won't be long."

Alex replies towards the seemingly crazy old man "What are you

talking about?" He then thinks to himself, " I have one wacked up mind

for thinking of this. Better start waking up soon. I'm starting to

creep myself out."

The old man sighs, and then informs the other two, "It may not

have killed him, but he is no longer a part of our world. In fact,

It'll only be a matter of time before his spirit fades away and

dissappears into whatever world he is now a part of. His memories of

us, have been lost forever, but...

The young male interrupts and protests againsts the misguidimg

words of Albaxis. " You said not to give up! How can you tell us that

there is hope and then go on saying his spirit will leave and never

come back? You said there's hope, now tell us what we can do!"

"Rex, you must listen, there is a way, you just didn't give me

enough time to explain. There is only one thing we can do to bring him

back, but it might be too risky. Things could go terribly wrong.

Afterall, it's incredibly hard to warp realities and not get noticed.

The Organization could find us. And with Xelabus knowing absolutely

nothing it might prove fatal if they find us before we get back home.

With xelabus powerless they could snap him like a twig. I hate to say

it but without him and his memories we are in for a load of trouble."

Celest can be heard at a distance as he slowly, yet again loses

consciousness, "Wow that's so sad. I can't believe this is happening.

I never realized that without him we'd fall into desperation. And

without his memories he is totally powerless? I mean, it just sounds

so hopeless.

Rex agrees, "Your right. Maybe it is hopeless."

The girl then asks the greater voice, "And what did you mean

when you said it was just the towns memories? Are you saying that,

even though I'm looking at him right now, he's really just a figment

of my imagination?"

"Not quite. Something must have brought him here. Maybe his

heart is fighting to remember, and the belief that he could conquer

the deal caused his spirit to weep, allowing him to send some kind of

paranormal message to us."

"Thats besides the point! Were losing him as we speak!", Rex

implies to the two as they all begin to notice that Xelabus's body is

becoming transparent. Rex can slightly be heard yelling as Alex slowly

fades away. "WHATS HAPPENING TO HIM! HE'S DISSAPEARING! XELABUS!"

Alex feels a vibrational sensation of bliss as he slowly fades

away.

"Woah, what's going on?", he murmurs as he feels as if he is

separating from this dream into the depths of sleep.

He can barely hear the old man continuing on with his

extraordinary explanation. "Wow, it seems as if his spirit is

literally being ripped from this reality and into another.

Good luck... My Friend."


	3. Chapter 3

Ch.2

{*Hearts Awakening*}

"Alex", a soft, feminine voice can be heard in the darkness.

"Alex...ALEX!

He opens his eyes and barely succumbs to the light, laying

backside on the ground with Cierras hands touching his head. Barely

awake he manages to murmur, "ughh, Cierra?

" Youre awake, finally," she sighs.

" What happened? How long was I asleep for? Did I lose?" he asks

a stream of questions as he slowly regains consciousness.

"Well, you definitely lost, and I really don't know what

happened. Maybe you tripped or something?" she asks.

"Yea, I think I did", he answers back thinking that was the only

seemingly acceptable answer. "I probably tripped and hit my head on a

rock. I don't know im not sure if I remember", he lies, and all of a

sudden has an awkward feeling, as if his body could feel the irony

that his mind created.

" I hope you don't have a concussion. Are you alright?", she

sympathizes.

"yea, actually I don't feel any pain at all. Hey let's get back

to the tree. I want to see the sunset before it gets dark,"

"Here, Grab my hand I'll help you up," Cierra suggests as he

finds his footing and uses her grip to gain his balance.

"thanks"

"Yep, oh and I still won that race", she kids around trying to

lighten the mood. It's still late afternoon, and the sun is just above

the horizon.

As they walk to the willow tree, Alex asks cierra "Hey,

how long was I out for?"

She replies, "Not that long. As soon as I got to the tree I

expected you to be right behind me. You weren't, and I thought you

would jump out of the grass and scare me. So I waited for some time

and you didn't come. That's when I started looking for you. It didn't

take long before I saw you on the ground, laying there. I'm still not

sure how you passed out. Really, I'm just as confused as you are."

As they got to the tree they each sat down using the trunk as a

back rest. They were about 5 yards away from the edge of the cliff.

At this point, they were able to see the sunset perfectly,

falling into a darkened shadow covering the mountains above the city

of falvalle. As the sun fell deeper and deeper into the mountains,

their shadows grew larger and larger, eventually covering the land in

which they sat upon into a slight blue darkness.

"Hey, ughh, Cierra, did you, by any chance, here me screaming

your name?", he asks with a look of confused determination in his eyes.

" You screamed for me? Why?"

"Nevermind. I was probably asleep by then. But, aww it's just so

confusing."

"What do you mean?", she asks with a bedazzled look on her face.

He thinks for a moment, and finally has the courage to tell her.

"My dream, it just felt so real, and I don't even know how I fell

asleep by then. I passed out because I was running for so long when I

knew I was supposed to be at the tree. It just doesn't make any sense.

Maybe it was more than just a dream, and..."

She interrupts him, "Calm down, Alex, you probably just had a

bad dream after you passed out. Hahahaha maybe you're getting out of

shape."

"No, it was more than that, I know it was. Dreams aren't like

that. You don't just go into a dream. You have to fall asleep, and

that's when your imagination runs wild. This", he begins shaking,

"this was real!"

Cierra starts to become annoyed and doesn't fall for any of it.

"Alex, if this is your wierd way of trying to Impress me, it's not

working. And you're scaring me."

"you're right, I'm sorry. I bet I sound like I belong in an

insane asylum right now."

She replies," Ha, yea you kinda do."

They both sit for a while, with nothing to say, and watch the

sun fall deeper and deeper into the mountains below it, until...

"Hey, what are you two love birds doin without me?", shouts Kage

out of complete nowhere.

Alex is pleasantly surprised to hear the voice of his childhood

friend, Kage, although he was looking forward to a deeper relationship

with Cierra.

"Maybe today was not meant to be that day", he thinks to himself. "So what brings you here?", Alex asks his cocky but unreplacable

childhood friend.

Kage replies with a cocky smirk on his face, "I just wanted to

ruin the moment."

Slightly embarrassed, Cierra remarked stubbornly, "what moment?

And how did you even know we were here in the first place?"

Completely ignoring the second question, Kage replied again,

with another look of cockiness on his face, and walked closer to the

two, " Oh, that's right", he rolls his eyes, "like you said the other

day, Kage shutup, we're just friends. You sounded so defensive. Cmon

guys I'm not stupid. You two have something going, but I swear if I

end up being the third wheel or some shit..."

Alex knew he had to say something, otherwise, Cierra would just

get up and walk away. "Kage?"

Kage stared blankly into Alex's eyes, "what?"

" If I were you, I'd quit coming to conclusions. You're annoying

her, and you know just as well as I do that you should never make

Cierra mad. She can get pretty feisty", Alex replied, knowing that

would comfort Cierra enough for her to stay.

She giggles and points at the sky. "Hey guys, look."

"look at what?", Kage asks holding back a comeback towards who

he now believes is "challenging" him. Then, he slowly turns his head

towards something remarkable. "Woah, Alex you see that?"

Alex's eyes wide open, with pure awww running through his mind.

He notices the mysterious misplacement of the night sky, "Kage, you're

wrong. You mean what we DONT see."

Now in complete, utter shock, Cierra begins to make possible

assumptions as to how this strange event is happening . "Maybe it's

just a wierd eclipse, or am I imagining this whole thing? Alex, am I

dreaming?

He shakes his head, "No, you're not dreaming, I think."Maybe I

am again", Alex thinks to himself.

The experience is so unbelievable that Kage begins to studder,

"wha, wha, where did, did the moon go?"

"Maybe Alex knows. Alex, did you do this?"

He looks at Cierra with a snark look on his face. "Oh yea I

totally ripped the moon right out of the sky. Like I could ever do

that."

"You're right, I just don't understand. Did it really just,

dissapear!"

Under the impression that something is very wrong, Kage starts

to feel anxious and uncomfortable. "Guys I think we should leave. I'm

getting the chills."

Cierra replies with an odd look on her face, "Wait, we should

stay here a little longer. It's almost like, I can feel something.

It's wierd. I can't explain it."

"Yea. Thats kind of the reason why I want to leave. Please, I

wanna go now", Kage pleads while slowly walking backwards up to the

high grass.

"Kage, wait. You hear that?" Alex asks.

"yes I do now let's get out of here!", Kage yells back as a

large rumble begins to form, as it becomes so loud and so powerful

that it feels like a small earthquake. As the small quake assembles,

an odd figure is seen pixelating in the sky where the moon is supposed

to be, while a large bright pink light flashes out of the pixelation.

The air around them begins to flutter rapidly, as a large wind picks

up speed at almost hurricane level.

Now screaming in utter terror, while holding onto the willow

tree for dear life, Kage yells, "WHATS HAPPENING?"

"I DONT KNOW!", Cierra shrieks, also gripping the trunk of the

tree.

Alex slowly walks towards the edge of the cliff in order to see

the bright, shining, pink object with better clarity. His eyes

glimmer, and mirror the bright pink object floating hundreds of miles

away from them in the sky. He is almost hypnotized by it's beautiful

essence.

A huge blast of energy can be felt through the ground and into

their bodies, as the pink light becomes brighter and brighter, and the

wind becomes incredibly strong, so strong that it pushes Alex even

further away from the tree.

"Grab my hand!," Cierra reaches out for him while Kage holds

her arm forming a human monkey chain. She looks over Alex's shoulder

and sees the steep cliff behind him. He finally comes back to reality

and tries his hardest to grab Cierras hand but finds himself being

pushed closer and closer to the edge of the cliff.

"I can't!", he screams. "The winds pushing me back! It's too

strong!"

Completely ignoring Alex's fight against the smoldering wind,

Kage looks towards the sky and yells," WOAH! YOU GUYS SEE THAT?".

He sees a pink heart shaped figure positioned directly where the moon

was supposed to be.

"Cmon Alex! Reach!", Cierra manages to scream, as the heart

becomes brighter and brighter with each passing second, while forming

a red aura around the perimeter. At this point, the heart is fully

visible, and the hurricane winds begin to subside. Alex is one foot

away from the edge, and begins to lose his balance.

Cierra let's go of Kages hand and runs towards Alex as he slowly

begins to fall backwards over the cliff. She runs as fast as she can towards Alex as he falls over the cliff, and almost loses her own balance as the power of the winds slowly die down. "Alex!"Cierra screams in shear agony over his plight towards the jagged edges of the giant cliff. She looks below the edge, and sees nothing. Then she notices something even farther down. It was Alex, hanging onto a large root coming from the Great Willow Tree.

The tree had momentarily saved his life. Now, he just had to find some way to get up towards the top of the cliff, which was definitely not going to

be easy.

"Alex! Don't worry we'll find a way to get you up! Just hold on!"

He replies sarcastically, "Yep, just hangin on for my life

here." Then, all of a sudden, he feels a great burst of energy in his

chest. Something far greater than adrenaline. No this was something

that made him feel incredibly powerful, something that could not be

explained with words. Was it his heart? No, maybe not his physical

heart, but something within him that brought hope to this desperate

struggle. He all of a sudden feels the urge to let go of the root.

"Alex I'm sorry I can't find anything!", Cierra yells fearfully

as she looks over the cliff and no longer sees him hanging off of the

root. "Nooo", Cierra whispers as a huge part of her dies within her.

She screams to Kage as if in agony. "Kage, he's gone!"

"What? What happened to him? I can't hear anything over this

wind!"

She ignores him and continues to look over the edge of the

cliff. "Hes dead."

"Cierra. I'm right here.", she hears something echoing from

behind her.

She turns around, and sees an insanely bright, yellow figure of

a person walking towards her. She knows that it is Alex, but can't

shake this feeling of losing her mind. The shining yellow essence in

replacement of his normal body didn't make sense, but she ran up to

him and hugged him tightly regardless of the insanity. As they both

regain balance she manages to ask, " But...but how?"

He replies, "I don't know. I just felt this wierd feeling and all

of a sudden I ended up here. Anyway, the winds gone. Maybe it's over."

Cierra felt overwhelming feelings of both of relief, and of

confusion. She was relieved that he had survived, but bedazzled as to

what was happening to him, and as to how he managed to get up the

cliff. But now, that didn't madder. Now dead silent, with the wind

gone and the earthquake subsided, the only sound left is the intense

vibration throughout the air made by the gigantic heart in the sky.

The atmosphere around them begins to change from a dark blue to a

bright, blinding pink, while little glimmering flashes of white light

randomly appear and dissapear from sight, repositioning themselves all

over the sky, and the vibrations coming from the heart begin to

subside as well.

"wwwwoooowwwww! It's so beautiful!", Cierra announces,

completely awe-struck, staring at the giant heart in the sky with

confusion and amazement.

Out of complete nowhere, the heart beats once, and the pink

light becomes so bright that it blinds the three of them, allowing

only a flash of whiteness to be seen. They all scream, as if it is the

end of their lives, as the heart bursts, and explodes with a large and

incredible vibrational force. It knocks all three of them onto the

ground, and shortly after, the three of them can hear a large

whistling object, gliding 20 yards above their heads, like a firework

heading in their direction.

They begin to regain their sight, as a big, bright blue object

the shape of a comet flies past them at sonic speed, and crashes into

the high grass, causing a combination of debri from the ground and

pieces of the object to scatter all over the place. The object burns

everything in it's path, and leaves a large trail of fire and burnt

grass behind it.

Now able to see perfectly, the three of them look towards the

trail of burnt high grass. Cierra and Alex each take deep breaths, and

take in whatever it was that just happened.

Kage on the otherhand does not react to the situation as calmly as them. He begins to lose his

sanity. "What,.. The hell,... Is GOING ONN! THIS is FREAKING INSANE.

Alex tries to calm him down, "Kage, it's alright, we're fine,

right? Not even a scratch on us."

"What DO YOU MEAN WE'RE FINE? ALEX THERES A FREAKING HEART IN

THE SKY! AND SOMETHING JUST CAME OUT OF IT! FOR ALL WE KNOW IT MIGHT

WANT TO ANAL PROBE US OR SOME SHIT! I MEAN IT DID JUST AIM ITSELF

RIGHT AT US RIGHT? Alex it came from space. IT CAME, FROM

SPACE! AND NOT TO MENTION THE BLINDING YELLOW GLOW

SURROUNDING YOU! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"

Alex doesn't quite know how to respond, because nothing like

this has ever happened to him, and he is just as scared as his

friend. The only difference between the three of them is their sense

of adventure.

Alex and Cierra become curious, and want to figure out exactly

what's going on. Unfortunately for Kage, there's only one way to

figure it out.

Cierra looks to Alex for approval, "Should we go through the

trail?"

Before Alex gets the chance to answer back, Kage answers for him.

"What do you mean GO to it? Are you crazy?"

Alex understands Kages hesitance, and although his curiousity is

overwhelming, he agrees with Kage and replies to Cierra, "He's right,

we should just leave it alone and go home. Act like it never happened."

"THANK YOU!"Kage yells at him, seeing to it that someone was

finally making sense of the whole situation.

As Kage and Alex begin to run away from the trail of burning

grass, Cierra chooses to stay and figure out what exactly Is

happening. She yells at the two of them. "How can you act like none of

this ever happened? The whole world is probably going crazy right now!

Look at the opportunity! This thing could have landed itself anywhere

in the world and it chose OUR hideout. Alex, think about it. These are

probably aliens with a technology so advanced that they were able to

visit us before we could even contact another alien race.

Guys, this is an opportunity we can't miss, and even if you do leave,

this, thing, will probably make itself known regardless of our

decision to stay or not. Alex, and not only that, maybe this has

something to do with your dream. Maybe the aliens were trying to

contact you in your dreams or something. I mean, what if this is our

destiny? Already I can feel the adventure. The linearity is coming

to an end guys, now we just have to suck it up and become a part of

the adventure.!"

Alex turns around and replies, "Cierra, are you coming with us

or not?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?", she yells back with

frustration.

Alex and Kage are both too stunned to answer.

She thinks for a moment. "No, I'm not going with you guys."

"Why NOT?" Kage yells at her in disbelief.

She rolls her eyes at Kage and tries to convince alex to go with

her. "Cmon Alex, I don't wanna go alone."

Alex stares at her for a while with sympathy, and comes to the

conclusion that it would be best to leave. "Cierra I understand that

it would be a great opportunity but what if they're not friendly? Do

you want to be the first human being on earth to die because of a

hostile alien race? Tell you one thing , I know I don't", Alex thinks

for a moment, "Cierra, please, just come with us.

"Fine, I'll just go by myself", she announces and runs straight

into the trail of burnt grass.

Alex yells, "No! CIERRA!" He finds himself with no choice but to

follow her, not only because it would be the right thing to do, but

because he cares about her.

Before entering the burnt pathway, he walks over to Kage, and

notices his body trembling in absolute fear.

Alex begins to reason, "Kage, listen..." and is yet again

interrupted.

" What the hell is she doing? Why would she go in there? Is

she nuts!", Kage shouts unable to control his erratic emotions.

Surprisingly calm and collective, Alex notions to Kage, "

Listen, I really don't know what's going on, and I want to go home

just like you do, but we can't let Cierra go INTO THAT FLAMING

DEATHTRAP BY HERSELF!

"I know, but all of this is just plain crazy! What if it's the

end of the world?"

"It could be, but that's no reason to just leave her behind!"

Kage looks to the environment around him and picks up a big stick.

"You know what this means right?", Alex notions to Kage.

He gulps, summoning up the courage to enter the blazing pathway,

"Yep, let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

{*A Dream Come True*}

"CIERRA! CIERRA!

CIERRA!

CIERRA!

Running through the long and seemingly endless pathway, both Alex and

Kage scream for their bold and beloved friend. The grass around them

burns with intensity, practically roaring with smoke and fire.

Alex Asks retorically, after running through the burnt trail for

what seemed like a lifetime, "where IS she?"

Kage looks behind them and notices that the willow tree is no

longer visible, due to the giant cloud of smoke surrounding them. "I

don't know but we've been running for a while now. You think this

trail goes on forever?"

"Who knows, maybe it's some kind of...", Alex stops and

notices a shining blue figure far ahead of them. Its intense

brightness stands out amongst the fire, while alongside it stands a

shadow of a girl.

"Thats her!", Kage yells in excitement. He picks up speed and

hurries towards her.

Another shadow, a closer one this time, races through the fire

around them, and makes an awkward growling noise. It stops both Alex

and Kage in their tracks.

"What was that?", Kage panics.

Alex tries to make sense of the noise,"It's probably a dying

animal stuck in the fire. Let's keep moving."

"Maybe…", kage replies, now aware that anything can happen

after all of the strange events that have occured so far. He runs even

faster, making sure to avoid anything that might show up behind them.

The blue object ahead of them seems even brighter as they get

closer to it.

"What is that thing?", Kage asks. He is unable see what kind of

shape the object holds mainly because of it's intense brightness.

Alex jokes around, "Hahahahahaha, maybe it's a UFO."

"Dont say that", Kage replies. He doesn't find that at all

funny, and the last thing Kage wants to deal with is a giant flying

disk with a little green monster inside.

"Rrrraaaaaawwwwwrrrrrr", out of complete nowhere, an 8 foot

tall, wolf shaped beast jumps out from the burning high grass, and

turns around, positioning itself in front of them. It's eyes are

bright yellow, and it's body, pitch black, along with a firey aura

fading away from the dark red mane flowing down to it's back.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?", Kage screams. His heart races, as the

bulk beast tracks his every move, and waits for the opportunity to

strike. His only defense is a fallen branch from the Great Willow Tree.

Paralyzed with fear, Alex has no weapon, only his friend to

protect him. Hiding behind Kages back, he notices something different

about the great light ahead of them. "Kage, THE LIGHTS DIMMING!"

"YEA, JUST LIKE OUR CHANCES OF GETTING OUTTA HERE ALIVE!"

The beast jumps straight towards them. As a result, Kage swings

his stick, screaming barbaricly, while at the same time, a blinding

light surges from the bright object far ahead of them.

Eyes shut, teeth gritted, Kage opens one eye hesitantly, and

stairs into the eyes of the beast. It's large, drooling mouth is

inches away from him. All of a sudden it's eyes become bloodshot, and

the beast falls to the ground on it's stomach. The giant wolf is

deceased. Kages stick had done nothing. In fact, it was broken in half

by the wolfs titanic force.

"huh?", Kage wonders, unable to make sense

of the monsters death.

The blinding light is gone, the monster is dead, and their

damsel in distress is still waiting for them. With nothing to say, and

no time to spare, they both run straight to Cierra and the blue light

with the intentions of getting her and leaving.

Now, standing several feet away from their friend, Alex and Kage

can't help but notice the shining blue sphere floating and rotating

several feet above Cierras head.

"How beautiful", she exclaims, without any fear whatsoever.

They stand beside her and look towards the sphere in amazement.

"What is it?", Kage asks.

"I don't know, but it really doesn't look like a UFO", Alex replies.

Cierra laughs, "Hahaha, a UFO? You're funny Xel."

Kage snaps back into reality and announces, "Hey, Alex, Cierra

we gotta go. This, this THING probably doesn't wanna be bothered. It

probably sent that monster after us."

Without hesitation, Alex answers back, "Right, let's go. We need

to get out of here. It's not safe."

Alex grabs Cierras hands and looks straight into her eyes,

"Cierra, listen to me, we need to go, now."

She is unable to snap out of her hypnotized like state, and

replies to him, " They, they're, they're looking... for you, Xelabus."

Kage turns around, "What did she just call you?"

Alex solemnly replies, "Who knows, she's delirious.

Almost half asleep, Cierra laughs at him. "Hahahaha, no, not

delirious. Just wait here a little longer xel, you'll see."

"Shes gone crazy!", Kage yells at Alex in disbelief.

Alex asks Cierra, "Why do you keep calling me that name?"

She looks at him with a disturbed expression on her face,

putting pressure on her eyebrows. "You mean Xelabus?", Cierra replies.

"Yea, that's not my name!", he announces with aggravation.

"What do you mean? Of course it is silly. Now shut up and wait

for them to come", she demands while smiling and poking him in the nose.

Kage, with awe running through his mind, blames Cierras odd

behavior on the floating sphere. "What did you do to her!", he

screams while running towards the object with a stick in his hand. He

then jumps, and swings his stick at the floating sphere. A large BING

is heard as his stick makes contact. It retaliates back at Kage

sending him flying backwards. He falls to the ground with incredible

force.

Alex's eyes wide open, scurries towards Kages hurt body. He is

unconscious, but still breathing. "Kage, you alright?" There is no

reply.

He hears a thud from behind him. "CIERRA!", he screams, as she

falls to the ground, losing consciousness. He runs to her and checks for a pulse. She is still alive, but unresponsive.

The sphere discontinues it's rotation, causing a huge impulse to

occur, and knocks Alex off of his feet. He is hit hard, but still

manages to pick himself up. Alex walks towards the giant blue sphere.

" WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

The object does not reply, although his eagerness for one does

not decrease.

"I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

Finally, he gets an answer."Xelabus, do not be afraid", a large,

familiar, atmospheric echo coming from the sphere announces. He

notices that It sounds just like the old man in his dream.

"Dont be afraid? You just knocked out my friends and Im barely

standing.", Alex retorts trying not to show fear.

It responds again, "Do not worry, we won't hurt you. Come with

us and we will tell you everything you need to know."

"What do you mean you wont hurt me? You already did, and what

do you mean come with you?"

"Xelabus, it is of great importance that you come with

us, before it's too late.

Alex is unable to understand, and continues to question their

friendly behavior,"You got the too late part right. What makes you

think I should trust you?"

Another voice comes from the sphere. This one sounds younger,

and more anxious. "Xelabus! If you don't get you're butt on this

Sphere Faylex, the organization is going to pick you up instead, and

they won't be so friendly! Please Xelabus, if you`ll just give us a chance, we'll answer all your questions later."

Alex is even more confused than before, "Huh, what organization?",

"Just GET ON!", the young male yells impatiently.

Alex slowly walks towards the sphere, with very little trust for

what lies ahead of him. He has second thoughts and asks, "What about

my friends?"

Another voice comes from the sphere. A girl this time. " Xelabus

what are you talking about? We are your friends."

Alex cocks an eyebrow, and retorts, "I don't know you, or Xelabus. None of you aliens are making any sense."

As Alex walks towards the floating sphere, a long, shining blue

stairs pixelates out of thin air along with a bright white circle at

the top.

"What is this thing?", Alex asks in disbelief.

"Its called a Sphere Faylex. Made out of pure magic. Albaxis

made it.", the girl announces.

Alex hesitantly steps onto the magical stairs, and begins to

think, "This is crazy. Am I being abducted?

The boy comments on Alex's slow arrival."Finally", he sighs. "I

was beginning to think he would never come."

Alex retaliates, "don't get your hopes up just yet. What are you

going to do with my friends?"

He doesn't get an answer. "Hey! Im not getting on unless you

tell me what happened to them!" Alex yells furiously.

The old man laughs and replies heartily, "Still loyal to your

friends even in this world."

Before he even thinks about escaping, the stairs pull him up

towards the Faylex at an accelerated speed. He finds himself going

right through the light and into a room full of wierd controls and

operations.

Alongside them, people. People just like him. People with

pain in their hearts, and smiles on their faces. They look at him with

hope, and their eyes gleam with happiness. The girl especially. With

sparkling blue eyes, and long brown hair down to her elbows, her face

is so beautiful and pure. Only one thing stands out. Her eyes show

pain and suffering, as if something terrible has been happening to

her. Something that has drastically changed her life as well as the

people around her. She looks at Alex with loving eyes, and says, "Xelabus, it's actually you. After all this

time...". She looks as if she is going to cry but surprisingly she

doesn't. Instead she walks up to him and hugs him. She whispers in his

ear, "I missed you."

Alex, with a warm feeling in his heart, instinctively answers

back, "You too Celest."

Her eyes widen, and she shrieks with happiness, "You remember

me!",

He replies, almost as stunned as she was, "Actually no. I'm

sorry I don't know where that came from."

The hope within her begins to die, but a withering part of it still

remains, and she retaliates against his bewilderment. "Cmon Xel don't

play games with me. You said my name."

"No i swear i had no idea." He pauses for a second. "Wait!

You're not an alien. No, not even close. None of you are. You're all

humans just like me. Sorry, but, who the hell are all of you and what

is all of this?

An old man walks up to him and replies, " Listen to my words

young hero, you are not who you believe you are. Tell me, do you

remember having the oddest dream, where everything seemed so real, but

at the same time, nothing felt right?"

"Yes, actually I do. Wait, how do you know that?"

"Hahahahaha, Xelabus please, it's me, Albaxis. You must have a

slight pinch of memory in that mind somewhere."

Alex becomes increasingly annoyed. "Why the hell does everyone keep calling me that? Who is Xelabus? No, what's so great about him?

The old man replies, " Okay then Xelabus, if you wish to talk in that tense then we shall. Xelabus, you, were the 2nd member of Organization XIII, a death defying group prone to the destruction of all "inferior" life forms.

More like gods, each and every member of the organization beat the

hearts, or souls, out of every being who chose not to take their path

into becoming a pure heart, but it didn't matter, because either way

they were destined to be stripped of their heart(soul) one way or

another. We, the Organization, used that heart energy to become even

more powerful. In other words, we nobodies needed a heart in order to

become a somebody, so we strived on the destruction of those that

actually had hearts. We thought that if we couldn't have our own

hearts then the only way to get one was to steal them from those that

had them. Of course, doing this only caused more problems, and instead

of having a heart, we gained negative power. Now, us four nobodies

understand our true purpose, and choose to aid the world we live in,

rather then destroy it. But, the rest of the organization does not

choose to live so peacefully. They are so power hungry that they

continue to greedily destroy that which was already under their

supervision in order to become even more powerful.

"I don't get it. So what makes me so important?

"You still don't get it, do you? You were the only nobody with

the ability to express emotion. It showed that you had the potential

to obtain a heart. You had the ability to make other nobodies feel

emotion, which was otherwise impossible for anyone in the organization."

"So, I was basically a sappy, crybaby?"

"Youre not understanding me Xelabus. If it weren't for you, all

of us would have destroyed the very world we lived in by now. Of

course, it is still dying as we speak, but because of you there is a

chance that we can save it. Because of you we realized what we were

doing to everything around us. We were literally sucking the life out

of our world by attacking and ripping the souls, out of those that

defied us. You must know that there is a balance to the homeostasis of

our world. The more powerful the organization gets, the more hearts it

takes, the chances of our reality blending into a darkened oblivion

becomes even more likely to happen. We will become nothing, have

nothing, see nothing, think nothing. That is not something any of us

wishes to achieve, so we come to you, because we know you can make

them stop, whether it be by force, or by persuasion."

Xelabus becomes extremely overwhelmed, and replies,"Wow, this is

insane. You expect me to take down 10 of these people? Really, they

sound crazy dangerous! I came with you because I was looking for

adventure, and I believed that you were friendly, but sending me on a

suicide mission like this? There is no way a normal person like me

could possibly take down a whole team of, what are they, soul stealers

or something?"

The old man roars with laughter.

"WHATS SO FUNNY!"

"Hahahaha Xelabus, you've done it once before, but not without

friends. You're friends will and always have helped you."

He questions Albaxis,"Tell me old man. Who are my friends?

"Dont you know? Look around you. We need you, more than you

could possibly imagine."


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 4.

{* Desperate Struggles *}

"So where we headed?", Xelabus asks Rex, watching him push his

hand onto some kind of glowing button.

"Back to Xios, Thats where we came from. It's our home."

Xelabus wasn't sure if Rex meant everyone including himself, or

just them. He didn't bother to ask, but he carefully examined the

space around him. He noticed how the walls of the room curved because

of it's spherical shape, and how the front of the Faylex jutted out

in order to form somewhat of a cockpit. "So how does this thing work

anyway?" Xelabus asks Rex again.

" Can we just ask questions later? I'm trying to focus here.

Sphere Faylex's are not easy to pilot."

"Oh, sorry I didn't realize...",

"Dont worry about it. We`re just glad to have you back again. You

should go back to the storage room. There's someone in there who wants

to talk to you."

"Alright, how do i get there?"

"Just keep walking towards the back. You'll find her."

Xelabus was pretty sure it was that girl again, and felt pretty

bad that he changed the subject when she was so desperate to see that

his memory was back. He knew it would break her heart to find out that

it really wasn't. But, she didn't even have a heart so why would it

matter? As he walked towards the back, he noticed a small glowing door

about his height. He touched the door and it opened slowly, revealing

another room, but this one had bright lights all around it. He thought

this might be the engine room, not the storage room. He also saw a

very recognizable figure talking to yet another recognizable figure.

He knew exactly who they were.

Xelabus ran up to the two. "Cierra! Kage! What happened to you

guys. Are you alright?"

Cierra ran up to him and hugged him. " Were fine. Oh and Kage

thought you were dead.", she mockingly replied to him.

Kage walked up to him, "So what happened to you? They anal probe

you?"

"Kage they're not aliens. They're just people like us looking

for help. They're desperate, and they came to me because they need me.

I know it sounds crazy but they said I have some kind of power. And

theyre right. I can't explain it, but ever since I had that dream I

could feel whatever it was just building up inside me."

Cierra looked puzzled, and asked, "What do they need you for?"

Alex wasn't exactly sure why she ignored the comment about his

power, but he answered her question nonetheless. "They need me to

bring peace to their world, but I'm not sure if I can do it."

Kage replies, "Hah, that's what they want you to think. They make you feel all

important, and shortly after they turn against you, and do horrible

things to you, like..."

"SHUTUP KAGE, you don't know what you're talking about. For one

you haven't even seen them yet, and neither have I. You need to stop

doing that!"

"Doing what?", Kage asks Cierra.

"Jumping to stupid conclusions, like how you said me and..."

BANG! BANG BANG BANG! BOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

Cierra is quickly interrupted by a huge explosion coming from the

outside of the Faylex.

A speaker from the ceiling of the Faylex announces to everyone

inside. "ITS THE ORGANIZATION! THEY KNOW WE'RE HERE! XELABUS! GRAB

YOUR FRIENDS AND HEAD FOR THE SHELTER! WE WONT MAKE IT IF THEY

CONTINUE HITTING US LIKE THIS!"

Kage yells, Wheres the shelter?" BOOM! bang bang BOOBOOBOOOOM!

The Faylex starts to jerk around, making irrational movements.

So does Kage, who is completely dumbfounded because he has no idea

where the shelter is.

"GET TO THE SHELTER! QUICK! NEGATIVE ONE! NEGATIVE ONE!"

Xelabus sees another door towards the back of the Faylex. He

runs towards it and sees four buttons aligned horizontally with the

numbers 3, 2, 1, and -1.

"Its an elevator! GUYS, COME OVER HERE! I FOUND THE SHELTER!"

BOOOMMMMMMM!

As Cierra and Kage run towards the Elevator, the Faylex begins

to lose mobility and starts to fall from the sky. The magic that

sustained the spherical barrier around it diminishes, causing Kage,

Cierra, and Xelabus to eject right out of the Faylex, and into the sky.

"Naaaaaooooooo!", Xelabus yells not just for his own life, but

for everyone elses as he watches the Faylex begin to explode, while he

falls at an accelerated rate to his death. He sees his friends falling

from the sky hundreds of feet away from him. Then, all he can hear is

a huge, explosive cracking noise. He turns his head towards the

Faylex, which falls apart, and all of a sudden, he hears absolutely

nothing. Then, he sees a large bright light, and in the center, where

the Faylex used to be, he sees and hears a large bursting shockwave so

loud it rips at his ear drums, and an explosion so vast, that he loses

consciousness.

With no hope, no fear, and eyes closed, Xelabus falls

into an unknown world, all alone, with no one to stand by his side, or

so it seems.

While falling, his body tilts down towards the ground at a 180

degree angle. He continues to fall, and fall, and fall, until he

passes the clouds, and the land beneath him turns to blue. Blue, the

color of ocean, the color of water. As he continues to fall, he

regains consciousness, and notices his descent to the surface of this

new world.

"ughh, uhh, woah, whats going on? AHHHHHHHHH!", he freaks

out as he begins to realize he is falling. SPLASH! He falls right

into the sea, and because of the speed of his fall, he, against his

own will, delves deeper and deeper into the Ocean. Shortly after,

Xelabus finds his balance and swims upright, looking intently up at

the dim light of the sun sitting upon the ocean surface, hundreds and

hundreds of feet away from his position. He swims as fast as he can to

the surface, and after some time, he still isn't even close. Xelabus

thinks to himself, "Wait, why aren`t i drowning?" After several

minutes of worthless struggle, he now notices that he can't, and never

could feel the awful sensation of losing his breath.

"Woah, what's that!", he bubbles out of his mouth as he sees a

bright yellow light beside him, urging him to follow some kind of

path. It delves deeper into the ocean, the very place Xelabus was

trying so desperately to escape. He notices that the light comes right

back to him, as if it was trying to urge him to follow it. Xelabus

hesitates, and chooses to continue swimming up towards the surface.

It makes a high pitched noise, as if showing frustration, and saying,

"Just follow me already!"

Xelabus, due to curiosity, tails the light, and finds himself

delving deeper into the ocean. As he delves, he notices how the space

around him becomes extremely bright, and his eyesight becomes clearer.

It leads him into a large, cave, accompanied with several other moving

lights. He notices how they are all different colors, ranging from red

to white, to gold.

"This is your home", Xelabus thinks to the odd

creature.

It unexpectedly comes closer to him, bobbing itself up and down,

as if to say, "Yes, you're right. This is my home." It yet again urges

him to follow it's long, but mysterious path.

Of course, Xelabus can't help but wonder why this creature would need him to follow it, and how it knew exactly what he was thinking. Maybe it was angry at him for waking it up, along with the entire underwater civilization of lights surrounding him, or maybe it needed his help. Afterall, looking

upon the old mans words, he could tell that he was pretty well known in

this world. He yet again thinks of something to see if the light would

respond. "Hey, you, light thing. Where are we going?"

It pauses for a second, and makes a high pitched noise again, but

this time, Xelabus wasn't exactly sure what it was trying to say.

Shortly after, the light moves higher into the ocean until it is no

longer visible. Then, out of complete nowhere, the light shines with

incredible brightness, and the entire place is revealed, showing many

intricate designs and vinyls within a collosal, underwater colloseum.

"Woah, what is this place?", Xelabus continues to wonder. He

then sees all of the colorful lights from the cave moving towards the

middle of the coliseum. Every one of them combines with eachother to

form something. Something, almost human.

Xelabus finds it easy to speak, although he is underwater.

"Wow, this is crazy. I wonder what's going on. Woah, is that...?",

he thinks to himself as the creation in the middle of the coliseum

begins to look even more increasingly human. It begins to take the

form of an old man.

"Hey, Albaxis! Is that you?"

"YOU ARE MISTAKEN", the creation replies with a voice so intense

It shakes his eardrums.

"Then who, or what are you?", Xelabus asks, fearful of any form

of judgement he knew could be brought upon by this godly, glowing creature.

It replies, "LOOK INTO YOUR HEART XELABUS. THINK DEEPLY INTO YOUR HEART. ONCE YOU REALIZE WHO YOU TRULY ARE, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY WHO

AND WHAT I AM, BUT WHY I AM. FOR NOW, IT IS BEST IF I TELL YOU NOTHING.

Xelabus replies, "Tell me nothing? How can I help anyone if I

know nothing?"

"IT IS KEY TO OUR WORLD AND YOUR JOURNEY THAT YOU LEARN THIS

WAY. IF YOU KNOW TOO MUCH THEN THINGS COULD GO TERRIBLY WRONG. LISTEN

INTENTLY THOUGH, FOR THE ROAD AHEAD OF YOU IS BOUND TO BE A ROUGH ONE.

IT WILL BE A ROAD IN WHICH YOU WILL MAKE MANY SACRIFICES, MANY

MISTAKES, AND ULTIMATELY, SEVERAL CHOICES THAT WILL GUIDE YOU

THROUGHOUT YOUR JOURNEY INTO, WHAT YOU NOW CONSIDER, THE UNKNOWN."

Xelabus yet again becomes overwhelmed, "I don't get it. How come all of a sudden the whole world relies

on me, when I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! IT'S UNFAIR! HOW AM I

SUPPOSED TO SAVE ANYTHING? I mean, it's not like I have any, you know,

powers, or magic, or whatever it is you need me to protect the world

with."

"YOU STILL DO NOT SEE IT? AFTER ALL YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH, YOU

STILL DO NOT REALIZE YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL? XELABUS, TELL ME. WHERE ARE

YOU AT THIS VERY MOMENT?

"Ughh", confused, Xelabus answers back, "Ughh, underwater?" Then

it hit him. He had been underwater this whole time and hadn't drowned,

he hadn't even felt the need to gasp for a single breath.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED IT BEFOREHAND.

FOR SOMEONE SUCH AS YOURSELF IT ONLY COMES NATURAL. YOU WILL SOON

UNDERSTAND. HMMMMMM. IT IS TIME NOW. YOU MUST REACH THE SURFACE.

THERE IS SOMEONE THERE WHO WILL OTHERWISE DIE WITHOUT YOUR ASSISTANCE.

SHE NEEDS YOU. NOW GO. GO AND PROTECT HER WITH THE POWER I BESTOWED IN

YOU."

A flash of light blinds him and the old man vanishes, leaving

only the golden light Xelabus had followed. "So you led me into this

mess, huh? Guess there's only one way to get out of it."

The light made a cocky sounding squeal, as if to say, "Shutup,

Im helping you."

As Xelabus continued to reach the surface, the light followed

behind him. "Hey, what are you doing?", Xelabus pointed towards the

shining cave below him. "Go back to your home. You can't follow me."

It still followed him. As he got closer to the surface, he noticed the

light from the sun was no longer visible. Instead, he saw moonlight.

"Wow, Ive been down here that long?" Xelabus looked behind him. He saw

the golden light again, still trailing behind him."Fine, you can stay,

and its night time. You mind being my light in the dark?"

As a sign of approval the creature flew up out of the ocean, waiting for him to reach the surface.

As Xelabus finally had his head above water, he not only saw his

shining companion, but an island far off in the distance. On the

island, he could see the moon shining on a figure of a person with

long hair, sitting on the shore. He couldn't make out the face though.

It was too far away.

"Hey, light, go to the island and figure out who that is. I'll

swim there as fast as I can." It listened and flew off towards the

island. As he swam, he could hear something behind him. Something that

resembled the deep squealing of a whale.

"huh? Cmon no more surprises please", Xelabus pleaded and began

to swim faster towards the distant island, now afraid that something

dangerous was tailing him.

GROOOOOOIIIILLLLLLLL!

"Awww NO WAY!", Xelabus yelled as a giant whale shaped beast

plunged out of the Ocean and swam after him with incredible force,

causing the waves around it's sides to heighten in size. Xelabus swam

as fast as he could but could not shake being overcome by the colossal

beast. It began to open it's mouth, revealing a glowing red diamond

hanging off the back of it's throat. All over it's head were hundreds

of little eyes; everyone of them fixed upon it's hopeless, fleeing

prey.

Xelabus screamed in terror as it came so close, eventually engulfing

every inch of his body. As Xelabus was helplessly swallowed by the

hundred eyed beast, he found himself being blasted off into the sky by

a huge jet of water. As he fell, he landed on the surface of the

whale, which was headed towards the island.

Xelabus regained his balance, sitting on the back of the beast. He begins to wonder. "Huh? You kinda spit me out?"

No answer. For some unexplained

reason he was expecting it to reply. But, it was a humongous whale

beast, and odds are it probably couldn't speak anyway.

As it brought him to the island, he continuously thought about why he was expectant of so many things. Things that otherwise, or at least in his world, didn't make any sense. He was expecting everything and anything to answer back to him, whether it be by words or just a sense of feeling,

brought upon by some spiritual presence lying within the soul of

those around him. He then believes, that the very reason why he was

expectant of such things was because of his underlying hope to

understand all of this insanity. It never ceased to reside within

him. His confusion was great, so he expected this world to answer back

to him, so he could gain the slightest understanding of who he was

meant to be. Why does this world rely on him? What is going to happen

next? After all he's been through, the words, anything can happen,

seemed to fall greatly into place.

While sitting on the back of the beast, he notices something

shining behind him, something red. "Woah, looks like a diamond or

something." He picks the red diamond up and puts it in his pocket. He

remembers that something similar to it was inside the beasts mouth.

No, not similar, it WAS the object in the back of its mouth, meaning,

that as the beast shot him out of its blow hole, the diamond came out

too.

At this point, the beast came close enough to the island that

Xelabus could make out exactly who the person was. It was Celest. He

asked himself questions, confused as to why she was just sitting

there. Did she know he was coming? Did she just happen to be there? It

Didn't madder. As long as there was someone else to stand by his side,

he didn't have to feel so alone, and there was something about this

particular girl that he became interested in. It wasn't necessarily

love, but he was happy to see her either way. He felt like he knew

her, but knew that he couldn't. There was no memory, no past with this

girl that he could recall. What was it? There was only one way to

figure it out.

The beast notioned to him that his ride had ended. He

jumped off of it, splashing into the shallow water and saw her sitting

on the shore. As he swam up to the shore the water eventually became

so shallow that he could walk in it. She said nothing, just sat there,

with her head down, as if she was going to cry. She looked devastated,

but yet, no tears, no crying.

Xelabus finally reached land, and sat with her on the soft sand.

"Hey, Celest, you alright?"

She looked up at him with pain in her eyes. "They're all dead.

Your friends, everyone on that ship died."

"What do you mean? We're still alive. Maybe they made it too."

She was hysterical. "Cmon Xel! What are the odds? The only

place they could go to even hope for survival was in the

shelter. But you know just as well as I do that if they went to the

shelter then they're all dead! The whole thing just went, Boom!

"Celest..."

"Aww, I can't bear it! How come I can't stay calm like you do?

I mean, everyone else is probably dead, and you act like you don't

even care!"

He thought about what she said. It was almost sickening to him,

because all this time he didn't even consider thinking of what

happened to his friends on the Sphere Falex. How could it be his fault

though? He was too distracted to care. He was never even given a

chance to think for himself. None of this seemed fair to him, and he

began to realize just how right Celest was. "Celest, I...I don't know

what to say, except the only thing we can do is look for them and hope

that they survived."

"There is no hope. It's over. Give it up Xel. At least,..."She

pauses for a moment, "At least when we die, we'll die together."

Xelabus stood up and clenched his fist. "No, we can't give up

now! How could you say that? Celest it's far from over. You came to

me for help. You ripped me out of my own world to save yours, and you

expect me to sit here and wait for the organization to destroy us all?

Sorry, but I'm not going down without a fight. If everyones dead...

Then we'll FIGHT for them! We'll fight for their honor, for their

PURPOSE!"

The light flew straight towards them, and made a familiar

gesture, and squealed, as if to say, "Yea, Celest, put your head up!

He's right! Now let's go kick some butt!"

Unfortunately, her sorrow could not be broken, and she

questioned him, " Xelabus! Tell me! What could you possibly do to help

us? You remember nothing! You don't even remember me! Earlier on the

Faylex, you said my name, but I know... I know it was only for a

second, that your memory had come. I knew it vanished, as soon as I

saw that confused look in your eyes. I really wish...", she pauses

for a second, "Really I can't bear to see you again knowing that you

don't remember the slightest thing about this world, or the people in

this world who's lives you've changed. Xelabus, you don't understand

how important you are, not only to me but to everyone around you.

Everytime I'm with you that light just sparks, and I feel...

almost as if...as if I had a heart. But it's not just me. You have

that affect on everyone.."

Xelabus had thought about it before he spoke. He didn't realize

that he had such a blazing affect on everyone. In truth, he felt just

as sad and desperate as she was, but he couldn't tell her that. He

knew it would break her, non-heart if she knew how hopeless he truly

felt. But he could also feel something within him, a power he couldn't

explain in words. Somehow, he knew it had been a part of him his whole

life, but it never felt so great until now. Almost like Celest

described her feelings, it was like a spark in his chest, more

powerful than adrenaline. It was the very thing he needed in order to

achieve the goals expected of him. All he had to do now was to learn

what it was, and how to use it. He replied to Cierra, "Tell me, I'd

like to know what I've done. Please, it hurts me just as much as it

hurts you to not know anything. If I know nothing, then there's

nothing I can do except hope, and it seems, that you, of all people

know more about me than anyone. Please, tell me everything. If you can

tell me what I've done, if you can tell me why I felt a certain

connection with you, and everyone else as soon as I boarded that ship,

then you'd be helping me out more than anyone ever could.

She looked at him with gleaming eyes. Eyes that showed hope,

rather than sorrow. Then she turned her head away from him. "But, I

cant tell you everything."

"Why not?"

"Because, you've done so much. Xelabus, by the time I'd tell you

everything, we'd already be dead."

They both felt like laughing, but they each held back, releasing only a slight smile.

"Fine, then tell me one thing that you remember the most."

She giggles a little bit, and softly replies, " Haha, Xelabus you always were persistent. Hmmm, let me think. Oh, here's... Aww! Awww! My head!

Xelabus! The org... Awwww!" She squirms in pain as her head throbs.

"Celest! What's happening? Why are you..."Xelabus suddenly

pauses, and turns his head to the left, sensing an overwhelming

feeling of being watched. Low and behold, he sees a tall figure in a

hooded black robe far off in the distance, walking past the waves, and

onto the soft sand along the shore. A black, eerie aura surrounds the

figure as it proudly, and carefully walks itself even closer to Celest

and himself, until it warps towards them, leaving a black mist behind

it as it gets closer. Taking the figure of a young adult, it walks up

to the two, and unexpectedly greets xels arrival into their

world.

"Xelabus. It seems that you are alive and well. It's great to

finally see you again. I was beginning to think I would never get the

chance to, dispose, of you, just one more time."

He continues to cause severe pain to Celests head, and Xelabus

can no longer tollerate it."WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER? YOU'RE

KILLING HER!"

"No, just temporarily disabling her. It's because of you that

the pain grows stronger."

"Awwwwww, XELABUS! Awwwww! Its...not...your...awwww!" She

can no longer take the pain and faints."

"STOP,!", as Xelabus yells, the diamond in his pocket begins to

glow, and the ground beneath him begins to rumble.

Xelabus and his anger becomes so strong that he effects the

stability of the ground beneath him.

The hooded man taunts Xelabus, "Hahahaha! Your anger is

growing! I can feel it coursing throough my veins! It's like your own

spiritual pressure is building up to an extreme. Far beyond climax.

Tell me Xelabus. What is it you fight for? How does your emotion

bring forth so much power?"

Several fissures form in all different directions, all aimed

directly toward the hooded man, who jumps at impossible heights and

speeds, dodging every one of the fissures forming beneath him.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!", Xelabus yells, unable to control the

erratical anger randomly flowing in and out of him, which causes even

more strange things to occur.

"More! MOOORRREEE!", the hooded man crazily begs for Xelabus to

continue on with his uncontrolled rage, and gets exactly, if not more

than what he bargained for.

One by one, thousands of bright yellow, glowing spikes form

around Xelabus, who also begins to glow slightly, and wait for the

opportunity to home in on the unknown challenger. Waiting for the

perfect moment, the spikes continuously rotate in the direction of the hooded man.

"What are you waiting for Xelabus? Hit me with all you..."

He releases the spikes and they each race towards the hooded

man. The man then forms something. Within the hooded mans palms, a black

and red aura grows larger and larger.

The 1st wave of spikes almost hit him, but the aura within his palm retaliates against them, bursting, and causing not only the first wave of spikes, but all of them to flail around aimlessly. Some of the spikes head towards Xelabus, who finally comes back to reality and sees the affect of his

rage. He thinks to himself, "Woah, this is crazy! Am I really doing

this?" He sees the glowing spikes heading straight for him, and also,

his helpless companion lying on the ground, motionless. Fearful of her

death, he runs up to her, picks her up, carries her over his shoulder,

and runs away from the random barrage of glowing spikes. As he runs, a

spike crashes onto the ground in front of him, making a small

explosion, with little glowing pieces of it scattering all over the

place. He tries to avoid it by turning around, but gets hit hard on

his left side, and his left arm begins to bleed. Alongside him, he can

see another light, but this light is balanced in the air.

"LIGHT THING!", Xelabus yells to the living object, who is just

as fearful as he is as it dodges the barrage of shining, glowing

spikes.

Still, running, he can hear the barbaric laughter of the

hooded man, who effortlessly dodges every one of the flailing spikes.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! XELABUS! DON'T RUN AWAY JUST YET! WE'VE ONLY

JUST BEGUN!"

He ignores the hooded mans maniacal laughter and runs passed the

sand, aiming towards the woods within the island in order to hide from

the neverending barrage of giant glowing spikes.

"Ughh, Xelabus", Celest begins to regain consciousness, and

barely sees the forest in which Xelabus had begun to carry her to.

Another spike gets too close to them, exploding, and ripping at the

flesh of Xels right leg.

"Hold on, just don't move. The farther we get you into this

forest the safer it is for you."

"Xel, your bleeding."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Your safety is all that

matters right now."

He ventures deeper and deeper into the forest,

stepping over broken twigs, and waving branches out of his face. As he

runs deeper into the forest, he notices something far ahead of him. It

almost shines as brightly as the Sphere Faylex he saw landing in his

world. As he gets closer, he notices several bright, yellow lights

circling around a large tree. He stops running, and notices the

wondrous beauty of this mystic place. He sees a circular, open area,

with a large willow tree centered in the middle with several bright

lights circling around it. Xelabus thinks that this would be the

perfect place to rest up.

"Xel, please...ughh, tell me you remember... this place.

If there's anything about this world that you should

remember,...it's the hideout we made here."

Xelabus sets her down against the large trunk of the willow

tree. He sighhs, and also sits against the tree. "Celest. How are you

feeling?"

"I feel fine. Xel, did you hear me?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

She gets frustrated."Yes, Xel I said I'm fine. Do you remember

this place or not?"

"I wish I did. It's amazing. It's so calming here."

"Thats what it's called."

"What?"

"This place. The elders called it The Calm."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5. {••¥••}

{*The Calm*}

Xelabus asks Cierra, "Who are the Elders?"

"Our guide to the divine. They only appear when they're really

needed. Don't ask me why. They're one of the strangest, secretive,

and most unknown things about this world. You used to know more about

them than anyone. We always thought you were an Elder incarnate, until

we realized..." she pauses.

"Realized what?"

" Nothing.", she touches her forehead with both hands and yells

out, "Aww my heads starting to hurt again. Xel, can you get me some

water?"

"Sure, if there IS any here."

She continues to feel the pressure in her forehead, "Ughh,

there's a pure water pond not too far from here." Celest then looks

disgustedly at Xels bleeding limbs. She sees the flesh of his left,

upper arm torn, and a large bloody wound gaping at his right knee. She

then implies, "Oh no, Xelabus youre bleeding a whole lot. Maybe I

should go with you. You know, just in case you pass out."

"Celest Ill be fine. You just get some rest."

"Xel, I don't think you should go alone. You don't look good."

He starts to get a little annoyed, and replies,"I told you, I'll

be fine, just get some rest."

She hesitantly gives in to him, "All...right, but if you go

alone you should at least go for a swim in the pond. The water will

heal your wounds."

"It can do that?"

"Yea, and in seconds, too. Cmon Xel, after all this your still

surprised over the littlest things. Ughh, aww my head. It just doesn't

stop throbbing!"

"Dont worry I'm going."

As he gets up she reaches for something on her back, "Wait, I

almost forgot. Take this." She opens up a sash and takes out a glass

bottle. She throws it to him. "You can't come back with water with

nothing to put it in silly."

He catches the bottle, and sarcastically replies, "Thanks."

Xelabus begins to walk away, and is yet again halted.

"Oh, and if you don't come back soon I'm coming to get you."

He pauses for a little while, saying nothing, and then, quickly

ventures into the beautiful forest. He sees the exotic lush around

him, glowing with neon like colors, while millions of fire flies roam

all over the forest. His mind boggles with absolute aww, as he treks

through the beautious, mystical place. As he continues to walk, he

steps on something wet. He looks down, and notices a small, glowing,

crystal blue stream of water. The blood from his right arm drips into

the stream, and due to the direct travel of his blood, he sees

the current heading in the direction in front of him. He continues

to walk along the stream, which grows in height and width as he

furthers his venture along it. It's path seems uncanny and twisted, as

it flows upwards over a small hill.

He stops for a moment, and yet

again takes a look at the mystifying forest. The atmosphere around him

is filled with pure peacefulness. He thinks to himself, "No wonder why

this place is called The Calm. I could stay here all my life." He sees

the trees, all holding their own shape, surrounded by the beautious

lush of bushes, exotic glowing plants, and above all, the light given

off by the combination of every glowing object, arranging and

rearranging to create a peaceful, colorful aura throughout the entire

forest. It is almost overwhelmingly peaceful.

By now the stream grows so large that it overcomes his ankles.

Far ahead of him, he notices that the height and width of the stream

drastically changes, and another open, circular area looks to be

formed. He moves farther towards the edge of the stream, where a small

waterfall resides. He kneels down, opens up the bottle, and reaches

towards the stream, but pauses. He thinks to himself, "Maybe it would

be better if I just filled the bottle up there." As he gets up, and

runs towards the waterfall. He looks over the edge and sees a huge

pond. He not only notices its incredible size, but it's striking

beauty. The end of the stream marks the beginning of the ponds magical

escense, creating an elegant waterfall that deluges itself into the

beautious pond. The bright blue water sparkles, and is accompanied by

many bright fireflies hovering over a series of glowing lilly pads.

Its beauty shines, revealing itself as the center of the beautiful

blue-green light spread throughout the entire forest. He begins to

wonder. He wonders why the stream would pour itself into the pond, and

never eventually run out, since there was no other water source to

fill it with. Then he comes into realization that this world is filled

with infinite wonders, and figuring out every one of them couldn't

possibly be accomplished. He mine as well let it be, and accept the

wondrous beauty of this magical place.

Xelabus opens the cap of his glass bottle, kneels down towards

the edge of the pond, and fills it to the top. He then stands up,

twists the cap back on, and examines the water inside the bottle. It

sparkles, and acts as a dim light, glowing in the dark.

Remembering Celests advice, he sets the bottle down next to the edge, and dives into the pond, causing a blast of shining ripples to spread all over. While underwater, he feels the wounds on his limbs healing, and his

bleeding diminishes, even before it gets the chance to spread

throughout the pond. He feels great bliss throughout his healing

wounds, circulating along his no longer pained limbs, and rather than

feeling weakness from blood loss, he yet again feels that auxiliary

power building up within him again. What could it be? Maybe now he

could find out, but he had already been away from Celest for too long.

He could imagine her screaming in agony, while a hooded man, somehow

from a distance, toggled with her helpless throbbing head.

"I need to

go now,"he thinks to himself, "she needs me," he implies while

ascending to the surface of the pond. He swims towards the edge of the

pond and climbs up the land where the waterfall begins. He grabs the

bottle, and begins to venture back to his distressed friend, until he

hears a series of perfidious footsteps walking along the stream.

Xelabus looks behind him, and sees a blue, transparent, almost

vitreous figure of a woman walking along the stream behind him. As the

figure walks, it reflects the light around it, causing it's appearance

to fluctuate, in continuously repeating flashes of bright light. It

then speaks, with the soft, elegant voice of a beautiful, angelic woman.

"Our hero returns", it announces.

Xelabus looks at the graceful, curvaceous figure in amazement,

and replies, "Are... are you an Elder?"

It replies, "Naturally. But my beauty will always remain

unwithered. I may be old, but I will always carry my youth. Xelabus,

it seems your age has rather culminated. So sad, that you are so young.

"Im confused. What do you mean culminated?"

"Im sorry Xelabus, but after you end this worlds suffering, you

will no longer age. Your purpose is soon to be forfilled. There is no

reason for you to continue to waste the power of aging on your

withering soul.

"I dont understand. Are you saying that im going to die?"

"Xelabus, you are here only for one reason, and that is to rid

this world of Organization XIII. After forfilling this purpose, you

will soon depart from this world. Yes, you will pass on, but no ones

heart ever dies. Your heart will travel to a place it remembers, and

your existence will be born once again."

"I still don't understand. What do you Elders even consider

death in the first place?"

"What do we consider death, you ask? What a naive question

coming from such a wise being such as yourself. You of all people

should know more about death than any of us. But, I will answer your

question nonetheless. It is not something anyone or anything could

possibly explain in words. Once you enter such a state of of being,

you will have a higher understanding of not just who and what you are,

but why everything of which was brought upon to you in life, came to

be. Emotion, lies, the truth, it will all make sense as death takes

you. How does that sound? To be at total peace and tranquility. To

fear nothing, only to know everything. It's a great experience that we

must all take one way or another. But Xelabus, to become deceased may

seem like a relief from all this madness, but, you must know, that

life is like a great path, and you must never take any shortcuts."

He then replies to her angrily, "What makes you think I would

ever", he pauses and irritably finishes his question, "CONSIDER

KILLING MYSELF! I HAVE FRIENDS TO FIGHT FOR! THIS WORLD EXPECTS SO

MUCH OF ME, AND YET IT WARNS ME NOT TO KILL MYSELF? I CANT DIE! NOT

UNLESS I DIE KNOWING THAT MY FRIENDS WILL BE SAFE! I'll never end

my own life, and I CERTAINLY WONT LET ANYONE TAKE IT!"

The Elder walks closer to him. "This is why we chose you,

Xelabus. Your tenacious nature gives you transcendent strength, and

will power unparalled by even the greatest Elders. You are borderline

pig-headed, but for all the right reasons. You care not what others

think, but how they feel. That is the effect you have on this world.

It lacks emotion. But, because of your fervent nature, you have

already begun to free it from extirpation, and the hearts of it's

inhabitants have grown. Its only flaw resides within the evils of an

unruly organization. Because of this organization, this world is

dying, entrapped by their unrelenting grasp."

Xelabus then thinks to himself. He remembers the man in the

black hooded robe, who attacked his friend, causing severe headaches

to course throughout her head. He could remember her deathly scream,

and her eyes rolling to the back of her head as she fainted. He then

thought of the great power he had summoned within him while defending

his helpless companion from the merciless enemy. The power that he

felt seemed unreal, but incredible as it was, he felt fear, fear that

he would lose control, and let his emotions get the best him, until he

destroyed the very world he was meant to save. He could remember the

neverending barrage of glowing spikes, that almost killed him and

Celest. Then it hit him, like the effect of stimulus and reaction

after touching a hot stove, that the man in the black hood had to be

a member of The Organization. For some unknown reason he was one

hundred percent sure. It was like a flash of memory had hit him,

turning his misconception into recognition. Xelabus found himself

filled with overwhelming feelings of obscurity, and had suddenly

remembered exactly who this man was. He could remember the voice, the

proud stature. The deliberate evil of this mans voice that sent

shivers down the spines of those that dared to cross his path. Xels

confidence in this sudden knowledge now turned into irrefutable truth.

He now knew that this formiddable foe had to be none other than his

downright heartless brother. It was Xavier, the sovereign ruler of The

Organization XIII.


End file.
